An Overview of the Science, Policies and Politics of a Contentious Subject

Nuclear Waste Storage in America

Dan SarlesEnergy Law Final12/08/10dgsarles@gmail.com

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AgendaIntroduction to Matter of Nuclear Waste

Disposal in the U.S (Slide 3)List of Abbreviated Terms (Slides 4-5)Waste Definitions, Quantities, Disposal

Options, Non-Disposal Options & Regulatory Bodies (Slides 6-17)

Issues & Developments Shaping Discussion of Nuclear Waste Disposal Today (Slides 18-31)

Conclusion (Slide 32)Appendix: Sources (Slides 33-35)

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Introduction

The Concern About Nuclear Waste

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Terms & Abbreviations P1

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NWPA = Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 & Amendments

SNF = Spent Nuclear FuelDOE = U.S Department of EnergyOCRWM = Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste

Management (part of DOE)NRC = U.S. Nuclear Regulatory CommissionEPA = U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLLRW/LLW = Low Level Radioactive WasteHLRW/HLW = High Level Radioactive WasteMTHM = Metric Tons Heavy Metal (storage capacity

figure)BRC = Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear

Future

Terms & Abbreviations P2

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AR = At-Reactor StorageAFR = Away-From Reactor StorageMGR = Monitored Geologic RepositoryMRS = Monitored Retrievable StorageCOL = Combined Operating LicenseYucca = Yucca Mountain, NV proposed permanent

storage siteCurie = The activity (A) of a sample is the rate of

decay of that sample. A curie is a unit of measure of the rate of radioactive decay equal to 37 billion disintegrations per second.  This is approximately equivalent to the number of disintegrations that one gram of radium-226 will undergo in one second.

Low Level Radioactive Waste

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2008 TOTAL LLRW Disposal: Volume of 2,085,366 cubic feet. Radioactivity of 783,164 Curies

High Level Radioactive Waste

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Spent (Used) Fuel from Nuclear ReactorBy-products from spent nuclear fuel

reprocessingPermanent disposal governed by the NWPA

Permanent Storage: Yucca Mountain

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Spent Fuel Storage Locations

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Spent Fuel Pool

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Spent Fuel Pools – Capacity Problem

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Dry Cask StorageSome canisters are designed to be placed vertically in robust above-ground concrete or steel structures.

Horizontal above ground concrete bunkers

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Testing Cask Structural Integrity

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Conn Yankee Dual-Purpose Dry Storage

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Generic Truck Cask for Spent Fuel

Gross Weight (including fuel): 50,000 pounds (25 tons)Cask Diameter: 4 feetOverall Diameter (including Impact Limiters): 6 feetOverall Length (including Impact Limiters): 20 feetCapacity: Up to 4 PWR or 9 BWR fuel assemblies

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Generic Rail Cask for Spent Fuel

Gross Weight (including fuel): 250,000 pounds (125 tons)Cask Diameter: 8 feetOverall Diameter (including Impact Limiters): 11 feetOverall Length (including Impact Limiters): 25 feetCapacity: Up to 26 PWR or 61 BWR fuel assemblies

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Nuclear Waste Regulatory Bodies

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Nuclear Waste Storage

Current Issues, Developments and Controversies

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Thinking: Short-Term vs. Long-Term

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Thinking: Wait and See?

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The Yucca Mountain Controversy

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Yucca Mountain and Obama

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As a candidate Obama pledged to stop YuccaSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada

has long been an opponent of the projectObama’s 2011 budget, proposed in early 2010,

promotes nuclear power but seeks to shut down the only geologic storage option considered

In June 2010 the NRC rejected DOE authority to withdraw the Yucca license petition, saying the NWPA only permits Congress to do so

Yucca Mountain Delay Costs $$$

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NWPA of 1982 requires nuclear power plant operators to pay a small fee to government in exchange for DOE transporting and storing waste at Yucca

The Federal Government was obligated to open up a permanent geologic storage site by 1998 or pay the cost to utilities for the delay

Due to ongoing delays lawsuits abound

DOE Limited by Legislation

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Express provisions in NWPA prevent DOE from providing for and funding interim storage without Congressional approval

Essentially nobody wants to deal with and pay for the ongoing problem of interim storage of nuclear waste while a permanent solution is kicked down the road

Statutory Restrictions on Storage Quantities

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NWPA restricts volume of Yucca Mountain storage to 70,000 metric tons heavy metal even though capacity may be 3 or more times that

Congressional removal of this statutory limit was a better option than building a second repository or delaying a decision and going with interim storage

The conclusions of this December 2008 report will be superseded by decisions of the Obama administration

Alternatives: Sub-seabed solution

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Terrorism / Security Concerns

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Storage: 2005 Classified Report to Congress by National Academy of Sciences experts on nuclear issues

Reprocessing: Contrary to U.S. Non-Proliferation Efforts?

Looking Ahead – The BRC

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BRC Findings

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Safe transportation is possible but designated rail should be pursued

Nuclear waste storage is often seen by local communities as a cost without the accompanying benefits of nuclear energy

Nuclear Waste and Climate Change

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Heat Effect?Reuse of Nuclear Waste By-Products for

other Energy Sources and Vice-Versa?

Fuel Reprocessing

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Reconsideration of ReprocessingIntergenerational Equity Issues

Conclusion

Blue Ribbon Commission faces a monstrous task

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Sources P1 “Energy, Economics and the Environment: Cases and Materials.”

Bosselman, et al. 3rd Edition. PP 1045-1062: “Disposal of Nuclear Wastes”

“Presentation to Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.” Kevin D. Crowley, Study Director Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board. November 2, 2010

“Enhancing Credibility in Nuclear Fuel Cycle Policy.” Hank C. Jenkins-Smith, University of Oklahoma Center for Risk and Crisis Management. Presented to Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, September 1, 2010

Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future: http://brc.gov/ “Waste Confidence and Spent Fuel Storage Developments” Winston

& Strawn LLP, Nuclear Energy Practice. October 2008. “Thorium” http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.html, July 2010 http://www.coolhandnuke.com/Cool-Hand-Blog/articleType/

ArticleView/articleID/35/The-future-of-spent-nuclear-fuel.aspx

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Sources P2 http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/nuclear_waste_storag

e/nuclear_waste_storage.html http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/07/nuclear-waste-storag

e-not-urgent.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/no-rush-replace-yucc

a-mountain-adding-generation-capacity-critical.php http://www.nrc.gov/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5408-2005M

ar27.html http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Features/UndergroundLabs/

Grimsel/storageoverview.pdf http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/science/earth/

30nuke.html?hp http://www.physorg.com/news200842407.html http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/02/02/02climatewire-the-

administration-puts-its-own-stamp-on-a-p-76078.html?scp=9&sq=nuclear%20waste%20storage&st=cse34

Sources P3 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/national/

usstatesterritoriesandpossessions/nevada/yucca-mountain/index.html?scp=6&sq=nuclear%20waste%20storage&st=cse

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/science/earth/03nuke.html?scp=3&sq=nuclear%20waste%20storage&st=cse

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/business/energy-environment/17NUCLEAR.html?scp=15&sq=nuclear%20waste%20storage&st=cse

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700048082/EnergySolutions-abandons-plan-to-import-Italian-nuclear-waste-to-Utah.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96oct/seabed/seabed.htm

December 2008 Report to Congress on the Demonstration of the Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel from Decommissioned Nuclear Power Reactor Sites

December 2008 Report to the President and the Congress by the Secretary of Energy on the Need for a Second Repository

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